The fierce Santa Ana winds that stoked a blaze that scorched thousands of acres near Los Angeles will wallop San Diego County early Wednesday, in the start of what forecasters say could be a week or more of off-and-on lashings in a region that’s drier than it’s been in years.

Santa Ana winds are one of the nation's most notorious wind events and an ongoing weather hazard in Southern California.

Tens of thousands were under mandatory evacuation orders but the fires increased in size overnight, helped by the blustery Santa Ana winds. ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission captured the above image of the Palisades fire at 10:36 a.

Everyone from firefighters to power line inspectors to park rangers are on the lookout for brush fires as a major Santa Ana windstorm edges ever closer to San Diego County, which has slipped into drought due to uncommonly dry weather.